Trinity defeats Centre 20-14 in battle of ranked teams

The No. 25 Colonels took an early two touchdown lead but were unable to hold on as they fell 20-14 to No. 18 Trinity in a matchup of unbeaten Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference teams Saturday in San Antonio, Texas.

With the victory, Trinity (9-0, 5-0 SCAC) secures the SCAC's automatic playoff bid and at least a share of the conference championship. After suffering its first loss of the year, Centre falls to 7-1 overall with a 4-1 conference record.

After a scoreless first quarter, the Colonels jumped out to a 14-0 lead on a pair of second quarter rushing touchdowns. Junior Monte Scotton (Cleveland, Tenn.) got Centre on the board by capping a nine-play, 73-yard drive with a seven yard touchdown run with 5:13 to go in the half. After forcing a three-and-out, the Colonels went 42 yards in eight plays with Jonathan Pinque (Athens, Ala.) scoring from six yards out for the 14-0 lead.

Unfortunately for the Colonels, it was the last time they would find the end zone. Trinity cut the margin to 14-7 when Nykolas McKissic found Jonathan Osei-Kuffour on a 15-yard pass with six seconds left before halftime. Later, the Tigers tied the game when backup quarterback Mason Blaschke lined up in the slot, caught a backward pass from McKissic and threw to Riley Walker on a 23-yard touchdown strike.

On its next offensive series, Trinity took the lead for good when Patrick Granchelli plunged in from a yard out, set up by a 33-yard Osei-Kuffour reception down to the Centre 1-yard-line.

Though Centre held Trinity scoreless the rest of the way, the Colonels were unable to take advantage. Down six points, Centre twice drove into Trinity territory in the fourth quarter, turning the ball over on downs at the 18-yard-line early in the quarter and later stalling at the 19 on an incomplete pass as time ran out.

Pinque went on to finish with 83 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries while Scotton added 51 yards on the ground and another score. Senior quarterback Tyler Osterman (Monroe, Ohio) completed 15 of 30 passes for 122 yards while Austin Jones (Louisville, Ky.) was the top receiver with two catches for 43 yards. Granchelli picked up 101 yards and a touchdown on the ground for Trinity while McKissic threw for 121 and a score.

Centre wraps up the regular season when it hosts Rhodes next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Farris Stadium in Danville, Ky.